Summary Absolute Monarchs.
SPAIN.
i.
Strong
catholic.
ii.
Devine
right to rule.
iii.
Like
none questioned the authority of God none should question the authority of the
king.
i.
Philip
centralized power to Madrid, treated the Netherlands as a colony.
ii.
The
uprising started when protestants rampaged catholic churches.
iii.
Philips
response was brutal; sent in the army.
iv.
Philip
confiscated Dutch property and imposed high taxes.
v.
1581
Dutch Netherlands declared independence. The southern catholic parts remained
Spanish.
FRANCE.
1.
War of
Religions.
a.
Massacre
of Huguenots (French protestants) 1572.
b.
Henri of
Navarre 1589 – 1610
i.
Edict
of Nantes
1.
100
fortified protestant cities/villages.
2.
Freedom
of religion.
ii.
Assassinated
1610
2.
Louis
XIII to succeed, but he is only 10 years old.
3.
Cardinal
Richelieu
a.
General
Estates, the “parliament” in France, were summoned but couldn’t agree, will not
meet until 1789.
b.
Richelieu
centralized the power around the King.
c.
Took
away threats to the royal power in order to stop/prevent civil war.
i.
Forbid
dueling among Nobles since it had led to Civil War in the past.
ii.
Huguenots
were allowed to worship in own churches but lost the right to live fortified
cities.
iii.
Nobles lost the right to fortify their
castles.
d.
Mercantilist.
e.
Merchants
were allowed to buy noble titles.
4.
Louis
XIV “The Sun King”.
a.
Cardinal
Mazarin ruled since Louis was only 4 years old when his father died.
b.
Mazarin
continues to centralize power to the king.
c.
Mazarin dies
in 1661.
5.
Rule
of Louis XIV.
a.
“L’ętat
c’est moi.”
i.
Army –
Organized a French Royal Army. Standing army of 400 000 men.
ii.
Administration
– Appointed Intendants, royal agents that amoung other things collected taxes,
spied on citizens etc.
iii.
Church
- Louis was a Catholic and went harsh
on protestants.
iv.
Versailles
– Court life was excellented.
b.
Colbert,
minister of Finance.
i.
Reformed
tax collecting.
ii.
Introduced
higher taxes
iii.
Saw trading
as the golden calf.
iv.
Supported
French industries with subsidies.
v.
Protectionism.
vi.
Supported
the colonial expansion.
1.
Saw
colonies as something that should supply France with resources and wealth.
c.
Foreign
Policies.
i.
Wars.
ii.
War of
Spanish Succession 1701 - 1713.
1.
Peace
in Utrecht left France in great debt.
2.
Spain
lost and Austria gained territory.
3.
Set
England vs France in foreign politics again.
German States.
i.
In
1618 the area had 21 million citizens, in 1648 13,5 millions
i.
Made
Prussia into a Kingdom.
ii.
Financial
policies – encouraged immigrants to start businesses in Prussia.
iii.
Ruled
with the help of landlords, Junkers. Recruited officers from this class.
iv.
Strong
Army – doubled the size of the army
v.
Always
wore uniform and is known to have lectured the people in Berlin on their
clothes.
i.
Enlighten
ruler.
ii.
Prussia
with its military power becomes a major player on the European continent.
Poland lost territory.
AUSTRIA.
1)
Ethnic
and Religious diversity makes it a weak empire.
2)
War of
Austrian Succession 1740 - 1748
a)
King
dies and leaves no heirs.
b)
His
daughter Maria Theresia inherits the throne.
c)
Frederick
the Great of Prussia seize the opportunity and attacks Austria.
d)
M T
goes to Hungary for help.
e)
France
and Spain joined Prussia.
f)
England
and Netherlands joined Austria.
g)
English
attack French in North America. (World War I?)
h)
Peace
in 1748:
i)
Prussia
gains Silesia (in Poland)
ii)
A
Balance of power is set up in Europe:
(1) Prussia powerful
(2) Russia looking to expand to the west
(3) British and French fighting in N
America.
3)
Maria
Theresia 1740 – 1780.
a)
Mother
of French Queen Marie Antoinette.
b)
Mother
of King Joseph II
c)
Reforms:
i)
Outlaws
torture and witch burning.
ii)
Vaccination
of children.
Russia.
1)
Russia
is united under the prince of Moscow Ivan III 1462 - 1505, known as Ivan the
Terrible.
2)
Ivan
IV rules as an absolute monarch with divine right.
a)
He
uses the help of powerful nobles.
b)
Peasants
in serfdom.
3)
Times
of Troubles 1604 – 1613.
a)
Civil
War in Russia, noble families fighting over power.
4)
1613
Michail Romanov is elected Czar by the nobles.
a)
He
realized that the election of monarchs would always mean that there would be
civil wars in Russia.
b)
The
Throne should be inherited by Romanovs in the future.
i)
To
pass this decision he had to give the nobles what the wanted.
ii)
Peasants
get serfdom.
5)
During
the 1600’s Russia expanded eastwards.
6)
Czar
Peter I (Peter the Great) 1682 – 1725.
a)
Determined
to make Russia a modern Western power.
b)
Reforms
to modernize Russia.
c)
War with Sweden and Karl XII.
d)
Moved
the Capitol to St Petersburg.
7)
Catherine
the Great 1762 – 1796.
a)
Won
support of the nobles by relieving them from taxes and excused them from
military service.
b)
Peasants
even more in serfdom.
ENGLAND:
1)
Henry
VIII
a)
Church
of England, Anglican Church.
i)
Wasn’t
allowed to divorce his wife when she didn’t give him a son so he started his
own Church.
2)
Daughter
Elisabeth I died 1603.
3)
Throne
to the Scottish King James I 1603 – 1625.
a)
Saw
himself as a ruler with Divine Right.
b)
Quarrels
with the parliament
i)
Religion
– Parliament were protestant Puritans, mainly merchants. They wanted the king
to take away power from the Bishops. James’ answer was purges against puritans.
ii)
Money
– James needed money to spend on his lavish court life and expensive gifts. He
also needed money to pay for his wars.
iii) Parliament would “blackmail” the
King, if you are nice to us protestants we will give you money.
c)
When
the King makes Peace with Catholic Spain, the parliament are very upset.
4)
Charles
I 1625 – 1649.
a)
Son of
James.
b)
When
the Parliament refused to give him money he forced people to loan him money.
c)
If you
didn’t loan him money you ended up in Prison.
d)
In
1628 he summoned the Parliament and told them to give him money.
i)
The
Parliament responded that we will give you money of you sign a Petition of
Rights, giving power to tax to Parliament and saying that the King wouldn’t
force private persons to loan him money.
ii)
The
King signed the paper, got his money and then did the exact opposite.
e)
Charles
the Dictator:
i)
He set
up special Courts of Law, where the defendant had no right to a fair trail.
ii)
The
courts were run by the king and the judges were the kings men.
iii) He appointed an Archbishop that
carried out cruel purges against Protestants.
f)
In
1640 Charles I is forced to summon the Parliament again to get money.
i)
Parliament
wants to limit the Kings power:
(1) Demanded trails against some of the
Kings men.
(2) The King agrees and executes some of
his old pals.
ii)
Then
the King storms the Parliament and attempts to arrest Five of the worst
critics. This fails.
5)
The
English Civil War 1642 – 1649.
a)
Nobles
and people in the rural areas support the King.
b)
Parliament
gets support from middle class in the cities.
c)
In
1645 Oliver Cromwell reorganized the parliamentary army.
d)
In January
1649 the King is executed.
6)
Republic
1649 – 1660.
a)
The
Parliament abolishes the monarchy and appoints Cromwell as leader of the
Commonwealth.
b)
But no
consensus is met in the parliament.
i)
Some,
The Levelers, wants to abolish all nobility.
ii)
The
Puritans, Presbyterians and the
Anglicans can’t agree on religious matters.
c)
In
1658 Cromwell dissolved the Parliament and takes absolute power.
i)
He
ruled with the army and the Puritans.
(1) Lead to a religious fanatical
society
(a) NO walks were allowed on Sundays.
(b) Dancing and cursing was banned.
ii)
He
tried to bring Ireland and Scotland under tighter English control and
encouraged protestants to take land from Catholics. This is the ground for
today’s troubles in Northern Ireland.
d)
Died
in 1658.
7)
Restoration
under Charles II 1660.
a)
He is
given power by the Parliament and this is the end of Absolutism in England.
8)
This
will lead to the Glorious Revolution in 1688. More on this after Christmas.
SUMMARY
|
COUNTRY |
ABSOLUTE
MONARCHISM |
|
SPAIN |
Catholic
Church and the Divine Right to Rule. Extremely
rich kings that use the money to build up a royal army. Nobles
untouched, given big influence over the colonies. Economic
problems and Inflation means that Spain loses its position as a Superpower. |
|
FRANCE |
Religious
diversity leads to Civil War. Nobles
had responsibility for building armies. The Way
to Absolutism: Organize
a Royal Army. Deal with
religious matters. Give the
Nobles a place in the royal administration. |
|
Prussia |
Economic
a bit weaker. Needs to
encourage business and get the support of landlords. Establishing
a strong royal army. Letting
the landlords become officers in this new army. Peasants
get some rights but never more than the vital landlords will give them. |
|
AUSTRIA |
Religious
and ethnic diversity. The
absolute monarch has to stop peasants rebellions. A happy
farmer is a good farmer. The
solution is a split responsibility: Nobles get to keep many of their privileges
but farmers get the right to move if the noblemen are to cruel. |
|
RUSSIA |
Civil war
between noble families. A king
needs the support of the nobles. Any
attempt to seize power from the nobles fail. Peasants
get serfdom with no individual rights. |
|
ENGLAND |
The
Parliament and the King are two equals, the parliament has the right to
taxation. Religion
is splitting the society between Catholics in Scotland and Ireland,
Anglicans, basically Catholic, but not listening to the pope, in England and
Puritans, Calvinist Protestants in Scotland and England. The King
tries to overrule the Parliament but eventually fails. The
parliament fails mainly due to religious matters. |